


3AM

by coffeeandcas



Series: California Blue Skies [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Parents Castiel & Dean Winchester, Timestamp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-09 09:04:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12273237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeeandcas/pseuds/coffeeandcas
Summary: Insomnia has been making Castiel's acquaintance of late.[A brief timestamp, will make very little sense if you haven't read The House on the Ocean Road first.]





	3AM

**Author's Note:**

> I missed these boys a lot so here's a brief interlude before Part 2 begins. Set a short time after the ending of The House on the Ocean Road.

It's cold in the kitchen so early in the morning. The floor beneath his feet is like ice and he wishes he had thought to put socks on. A cup of tea will warm him up but it takes a while to make - he takes his time, not rushing, seeing no need to. He's been awake long enough to know that sleep won't come tonight. Or if it does, it will come just before dawn so that he manages only an hour or two before waking up bleary-eyed to take the children to school. He misses the warmth of his bed and his partner’s body as he stands at the counter, rubbing his hands together as he waits for the water to boil. Dean has been on at him to buy a new kettle for ages, an electric one that doesn't take ten minutes to heat up, but he likes this one. At least he can utilise some of the heat from the stove to warm his hands while he waits. He pulls his sweater sleeves down a little further until only his fingers are visible and stands on one leg, the other foot against his shin for balance. It's _very_ cold.

His gaze falls on his phone lying on the table, discarded after dinner, the crack in the screen becoming more pronounced every day. He should replace it but he's grown rather attached to it. He fingers it, turning it over and over in his hands before hitting call. It rings six, seven, eight times before there's a scuffle and a low hiss of breath down the line and Cas thinks better of calling; he hasn't considered the late hour when he dialled. Ah well, too late now.

“Cas?”

Jimmy’s sleepy, confused voice comes down the line and the kettle starts to whistle. He removes it from the stove and fills his cup, the phone pressed between shoulder and ear as he smiles at his twin’s voice.

“Hey, Jimmy. Did I wake you?”

“Of course,” Jimmy yawns hugely and there's a low scuffle of sheets - Cas can picture him stretching, arms above his head, casting blearily about for the time. “Are you alright? It's late.”

“I know. Sorry.” He leaves the tea to brew and hops up to sit on the counter, the soles of his feet freezing as he tries to rub some warmth into them. His PJ pants are frayed at the edges, something else he should probably replace. “Can't sleep.”

“Again? Every night this week now, Cas.” Another muffled sound: Jimmy turning over in bed. “You sure everything's OK?”

“Yeah, everything's great.” He glances down at the ring glinting on his left hand, a sensation he's still getting used to, and spins it with his thumb. “Everything's perfect. And maybe that's it, it's too perfect.” He sighs, running his hand through his hair. “I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“No. Cas, don't. Nothing is going to happen, you can't do this to yourself.” Another ruffle of sheets, then Jimmy’s voice comes through clearer. “Dean adores you. You're getting married. The kids are fine and are doing great at school. You're almost finished your next novel. Everything is falling into place, right?”

“I guess,” Cas traces a water mark on the counter then slides down and finishes off his tea, wandering over to the living room and turning on a small lamp. He doesn't want to wake Dean, has managed not to wake him once this week in spite of his apparently regular 3am calls to Jimmy. He doesn't want Dean to worry that he isn't sleeping, it's not unusual for him. He just needs to get through this patch then he’ll be fine again. He pulls a blanket down from the back of the sofa and snuggles under it, tucking his feet beneath him and instantly feeling warmer as he sips his tea. “I'm being idiotic.”

“You aren't.” Jimmy’s bedroom door opens and closes. “But you deserve to be happy and you deserve to let yourself be happy. We've been through this.”

“I know.”

“How's Lexie?” His brother’s voice takes on a muffled note, as though he's holding the phone with his shoulder.

“Fine. He saw Dr Bradbury again today, she thinks he's doing OK. Just fighting off an infection that won't quit. She gave him cipro and told him to take it easy, so you can imagine how that's gone down.”

“What kind of infection? Why hasn't she picked this up earlier?” He can hear Jimmy’s frown down the phone line.

“She's not sure. Some of his bloods were off so she thought this was the best course of action, she says it looks like he's fighting something. Could go way back to his accident. She's doing her best with him, Jim, I know she is.” He sounds a lot calmer than he actually feels, but after ranting and raving to Dean for a hour after the kids had gone to bed - saying exactly what Jimmy is saying now - he's feeling a little more centred. Dean, as always, had known all the right things to say to calm him. “Tablets twice a day for a week then review and more bloods.”

“OK. He's a trooper, Cas, he's gonna be just fine.”

“Yeah.” Cas gazes out of the window at the stormy waves and remembers Lexie’s little body lying on the beach with a shudder. The ocean looks ravenous tonight, angry and wild, and he's glad for his couch and his blanket and his warm bed waiting for him down the hall. “You're right, I know.”

“So,” Jimmy changes the subject deftly, unwilling to let Cas linger for too long on the subject of his son’s health. “Aside from interrupting my much needed beauty sleep, what are you doing?”

“Made some tea,” He takes a sip and savours the sweet taste. “Wondering how long I can keep you awake for.”

“What kind of tea?” The sound of a toilet flushing reaches Castiel’s ears.

“Apple tea with honey. Homemade.” The tea is helping warm him from the inside out and he relaxes back into the sofa, watching the steam rise in a swirl from his mug. It smells incredible and tastes even better. Dean hates it which is fine by Castiel - more for him.

“Sounds good. How's wedding planning going?”

“It isn't. We can't decide where to do it, and Dean can't decide who to invite. I've told him his family are welcome here but I think he might want to go home to do it? I'm not sure. What do you think?”

“It's your day, Cas. Whatever makes you both happy. You know I'll be there wherever you choose.” He can almost hear his brother grinning. “Are the twins going to walk you down the aisle?”

Cas barks a laugh which subsides into a fond smile at the idea. His boys in little suits, walking down holding his hands… it's kinda adorable when he thinks of it that way. But the temptation for mischief might be too much for excitable Billie and he can just picture Lexie’s eyes wide with horror at the sight of a handful of strangers.

“Nah. Haven't decided what to do with them yet, or if either of us will be walking down an aisle at all. I've done all this before and look how it ended. Plus as much as I love Dean, I can't quite picture him in a white powder puff dress. I don't think white is his colour.” Jimmy guffaws and Cas smiles sleepily, stretching out to lie back on the couch. “As long as you, Dean and the boys are there that's all that counts. And Sam, Mary and Jess of course,” he adds as an afterthought.

“Of course.” Jimmy is quiet for a moment. “How are you and Sam getting on these days?”

“Fine.” Cas fiddled with the cuff of his sweater. “Better than we were.”

“Yes well, things could hardly have been worse, could they?”

“Hey, yes they could!” Cas ponders. “I could have knocked him on his ass a second time.”

Jimmy laughs heartily, sounding much more awake now and less caring about the time. He's used to nighttime calls from Cas. When Cole died they used to talk almost until dawn - well, Jimmy would talk and Cas would lie curled on the sofa listening, damp-eyed and lonely. This was before Jimmy moved out to join him of course, because following that the dark nights were inevitably spent with his brother next to him on the couch, consoling him while he questioned everything and lamented his own failures as a husband. He can only pray those days are behind him and that all he and Dean have to look forward to is happiness.

“Does Dean talk much about going home?”

“No, not so much. I think he wants to but he's scared, although if you tell him I said that they'll never find your body.” Cas taps his front tooth with a finger, thinking. “God knows I won't push him to do anything he doesn't want to. Anything else he doesn't want to!” He corrects himself, bristling as Jimmy makes a noise of dissent down the line. “But I worry he's building it up into something it isn't. I'm sure when he gets there things will be alright.”

“You're probably right, although I won't tell him that either.” Another gigantic yawn comes down the line, then Cas is distracted by a sound from the hallway.

“Daddy?”

It's Billie, looking half-asleep and impossibly cute in his cat-print romper, wandering over towards Cas and rubbing his eyes. His feet are bare and Cas reaches over to scoop him up quickly so that he doesn't get chilled, snuggling them both down under the blanket. He brushes his son’s hair away from his face - it's getting long, so is Lexie’s, the difference being that Billie wants his cut while his brother doesn't. It's a small sign, one of many lately, that Lexie is coming into his own and branching out away from his brother. It makes Cas’ chest constrict, the idea of his boys growing up. They've always needed him, _always_. What happens when they no longer do?

“Cas? You still there?”

“Yeah, I've got company now.” He kisses Billie’s head as his son wriggles to try and listen in to the phone call. “What time do you call this? This is grown-up time, Billie, do you think you should be up at this hour?” There's humour in his voice as he kisses his son and Billie smiles drowsily up at him, nodding.

“You're up, daddy, so _I'm_ allowed to be up, too.”

"If you say so.”

He doesn't have the heart to send him back to bed. Billie is warm and cosy and he pulls him close, hugging him like a teddy bear and sighing with happiness as his son burrows close. Nothing in the world beats sleepy cuddles with his kids.

“I'll call you back.” The line goes dead and a second later his phone rings again - ‘Jimmy Novak wants to Facetime’. Grumbling half-heartedly at the rise of technology Cas swipes the screen to answer. His brother’s face appears, grainy on the cracked screen. He looks tired but he's smiling, dressed in a maroon sweater with his glasses on, the backdrop of the kitchen signalling that he's made his way downstairs. “Hey, scamp. Why are you awake so early?”

“Couldn't sleep,” Billie rubs his eyes, leaning into his father, looking on the verge of dropping off in spite of his words. “My brain is busy.”

Cas and Jimmy both laugh quietly. The boys are at a wonderful age now, coming out with the funniest things. Billie sips some of Cas’ tea, now cool enough for him to drink, makes a face then tries another sip. On the small screen, Jimmy sips a drink too and yawns hugely. Cas can see himself and Billie staring back in the tiny window at the top corner and he grins, nuzzling his kid’s neck. They look super cosy all wrapped in blankets, the glow from the lamp making their skin look more tanned than normal. The days are brightening slowly and the boys are outside much more, paddling in the ocean and building sand castles. Billie looks more like he and Jimmy every day, a fact he never thought possible.

“OK team, Uncle Jimmy needs his beauty sleep-”

“Tell me about it, you're scaring us.”

“- so I'm going back to bed. Cas, you feel better?”

“Yeah,” he nods, setting the mug down and drawing Billie onto his chest. “Much. Thanks, Jimmy. Sorry for waking you.”

“You're not.” Jimmy is moving now, padding back up the stairs slowly and pushing his glasses up to sit on his head. “‘Night, little brother. ‘Night Billie.”

“G’night,” Billie yawns and rubs his eyes as they water in reaction. “Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite.”

“You too, kid. See ya, Cas.”

Then he's gone and the living room is quiet again. He leans up and stretches over to then the light off then the whole place is bathed in cool darkness, the only light seeping in from the moon and stars outside. Billie shifts and sighs comfortably and Cas pulls him tight, unwilling to get them both to bed yet. He’s almost asleep when he feels someone tugging at him, a small hand dragging at his shoulder. He cracks an eye open to see Lexie, bleary-eyed and yawning, and pulls the blanket up to let his other son climb in. Just five minutes, he promises himself, then he will get the kids back to bed and go curl up with Dean. Just five minutes to cuddle his boys. But five minutes becomes ten, and by that time all three Novaks are sound asleep, breathing deep and even, curled around each other like koala bears.

Later, when Dean gets up to rouse the kids for school, he finds them with Cas on the sofa, all cuddled together in a pile and nowhere near awake, and his heart warms at the sight of his family. He grabs another blanket and settles down next to them, pulling Billie into his arms and throwing an arm around Cas who gives him a sleepy smile then closes his eyes again, pulling Lexie onto his chest. Outside the ocean has calmed and is sparkling invitingly in the morning sunlight. Dean sighs happily and lets his eyes fall closed as Billie nuzzles his neck and entwines their hands.

They can be ten minutes late for kindergarten. This is more important.


End file.
